


Let It Snow

by asingleredheart



Category: Homestuck
Genre: GamTav - Freeform, Homestuck Secret Santa Exchange 2016, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 20:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12043560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asingleredheart/pseuds/asingleredheart
Summary: In which watching whale-lusii but not the weather leads to unexpected meetings.





	Let It Snow

Tavros hadn’t meant to be out this long.

The weather report that evening had said there would be snow later in the night, but the morning had been perfectly clear and the young troll had been unable to resist the urge to attempt to commune with a pod of whale lusii that were taking a break on a relatively nearby beach.

The initial communion had turned into a ride on one of the whale’s backs, and Tavros hadn’t even noticed how far they were getting from his hive until the snow had begun to fall.

Despite Tavros’s best efforts, he had been unable to force the lusus carrying him to turn around and return to the beach they had come from. The best he could do was get it to drop him on the closest bit of land he could find.

So now, here he was, alone on a seemingly deserted stretch of sand, the wind howling around him as the snow piled up with ever increasing speed.

With nothing else to do, Tavros picked a direction at random and started walking. Maybe, if he was lucky, there would be a cave of some sort he could use to shelter from the worst of the icy blasts. It certainly beat standing next to the open ocean.

With every passing second, visibility got worse and worse. Soon, Tavros was reduced to stumbling blindly, arms out in front of him in the vague hope that he would feel any obstacles before he smashed his face into them. Not that obstacles seemed to be much of a worry. He felt like he had been walking for hours and so far hadn’t encountered so much as a large stick.

Just as Tavros was beginning to think that the beach was truly empty, and that he might as well lie down and at least try to ball up to save heat, his outstretch hands met with something surprisingly soft.

From the surprised honking noise, Tavros assumed he had smacked into a lusus. But what was a lusus doing standing in the middle of a beach in the blinding snow?

Tavros was so wrapped up in his thoughts, it took him completely by surprise when a hand came through the snow from the direction of the lusus he’d hit and felt around a bit before finding and grabbing Tavros’s own.

Before the young brown-blood could question it, he found himself being tugged through the blizzard, the other hand grasping tight to his.

Just as it was starting to occur to Tavros that maybe letting some strange troll lead him to who knows where was a bad idea, he found himself pulled through a door into a dark sheltered space.

The hand that had been holding Tavros’s let go, and the sound of shuffling, along with several loud honks, preceded the lights turning on to reveal that Tavros was standing in another troll’s rather messy respiteblock.

Tavros looked around warily, taking in the clown posters on the wall, the horns on the floor, and the bottles of soda (Faygo, he noted) on everything. And standing in the middle of the chaos was the troll Tavros had at first taken for a lusus.

The other troll looked to be about his age, his frame tall and lanky, horns cracked and peeling in places as though he was unsure how to care for them properly, face covered in paint, and shirt bearing his sign in… oh no, purple.

The two trolls stared at each other for a few long minutes, both seemingly unsure what to do or say. Tavros found himself surprised that, even knowing that the other troll was a purple blood, he didn’t feel afraid. Surely the other would have made a move by now if he was angry that the troll he had led to his hive was of a lower blood.

Eventually, the awkward silence and staring seemed to become too much for the other troll, and he turned toward the door, only to trip over the untied laces of his shoes.

Before he could over think it, Tavros found himself beside the other troll, hand out as an “Are you ok?” fell from his lips.

The purple troll seemed a bit surprised at Tavros’s hand, but took it and let the other help him to his feet. Once upright, he didn’t seem inclined to let go again, instead staring at Tavros’s hand as though shocked it was really there.

Finally, after several silent moments, the other troll spoke, voice a bit husky, as though he hadn’t used it in a long time.

“You’re really motherfucking here, aren’t you?” He asked, as though in complete disbelief of every other bit of evidence so far that Tavros was real.

Tavros nodded, unsure as to why the other troll was so surprised. The beach was rather empty, but surely there must be other trolls relatively nearby.

Since the other troll didn’t seem inclined to speak again, or to cease his inspection of Tavros’s hand, Tavros took, a moment, summoned up his courage, and said “I’m, uh, I’m Tavros. Tavros Nitram”.

The other troll looked up at that, seemingly a bit confused, then smiled broadly. “Motherfucking pleased to meet you, Tavros. Name’s Gamzee Makara.”

Having used up most of his courage on the introduction, Tavros wasn’t quite sure how to ask for his hand back. Certainly the oth… Gamzee, didn’t seem inclined to let go.

Fortunately, Tavros was saved from having to attempt further conversation by a loud rumbling from his stomach.

Blushing, Tavros wrapped his free arm around his middle. With all the excitement of the whale lusii and then being lost in the snow, it had been hours since his last meal.

Seemingly spurred to action by the noise, Gamzee moved suddenly, heading towards the door of the respiteblock. As he was still clutching Tavros’s hand, he had no choice but to follow along down a dark hallway to a surprisingly tidy nutritionblock.

As the taller troll began to dig through the cupboards, job made awkward by only having one hand, Tavros quickly realized that the nutritionblock’s cleanliness was largely because it was almost completely empty of food

As each cupboard opened to reveal nothing but dusty dishes or empty space broken only by cobwebs, Tavros felt himself becoming more and more confused. Surely a purple-blooded troll could afford decent food. And even if he couldn’t, why wasn’t his lusus bringing him things to eat? Wasn’t that part of their job?

Finally, after several minutes of digging, the other troll pulled a package from the back of one of the cupboards with a cry of triumph. This find was quickly deposited in the microwave, and Tavros found himself watching the bag go round and round as the warm smell of butter filled the air and Gamzee muttered about miracles.

When the microwave dinged, Gamzee grabbed the bag and towed it and Tavros back to his respite block. There, the two settled awkwardly onto a pile of horns in front of the window, their snack sitting between them.

The two sat in companionable silence, munching their way through the bag as the snow fell and the wind howled outside. Although Tavros found it a bit awkward to eat with his left hand, by this point he didn’t have the heart to ask Gamzee to let his right hand go.

Eventually the popcorn was gone and both trolls settled back, seemingly content to stay where they were.

As he watched the snow fall, Tavros couldn’t help but think of Tinkerbull. The little lusus was unlikely to come look for him in this, but they were sure to worry about him. Tavros felt a pang of regret for worrying his lusus, but there wasn’t much he could do. He had no idea where he was, much less how to get back to his hive.

The hours passed quickly as the two trolls lay in silence, each contemplating his own thoughts. Finally, however, Tavros couldn’t suppress a yawn. Gamzee jumped a bit, then, looking almost guilty, and quickly stood up, pulling Tavros after him towards the recuperacoon.

Once in front of the coon, Gamzee shuffled awkwardly and dropped Tavros’s hand, leaving the other troll feeling strangely bereft.

“Figured a motherfucker would be wanting to get his sleep on in a proper coon”, he muttered as he turned back towards the horn pile.

“What about you?” Tavros asked. Surely the other troll didn’t intend to sleep without proper sopor, did he? And if he had a guest coon, why not put Tavros in it instead of giving up his own?

Gamzee just looked away, muttering something that sounded like “Didn’t want to be a motherfucking bother”, unable to meet Tavros’s eyes.

That sealed it for Tavros. He might not be the bravest troll, but he wasn’t going to kick someone out of their own coon. Instead, summoning up a well of courage he didn’t know he had, he reached out and took the other troll’s hand again, stammering out “If we, uh, if we’re careful, we should both fit.”

The smile Gamzee directed his way was worth every bit of awkwardness it to cram even two very small trolls like them into a single coon. Still, once they had all their limbs sorted, Tavros had to admit it was rather nice to have someone else there. His respiteblock had always felt a little quiet during the day, without the sounds of the various lusii outside or Tinkerbull’s gentle lowing cry. Hearing Gamzee breathing next to him made him feel strangely peaceful.

On impulse, Tavros leaned in a bit and pressed a quick kiss onto Gamzee’s forehead. Later on, he could not explain what drove him to do it, or why he didn’t object when Gamzee responded by wrapping his limbs around Tavros and burying his face in his neck.

All he knew was that somewhere, deep down in his heart of hearts, it felt right.


End file.
